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Essex v Somerset, Surrey v Leicestershire, and more: county cricket, day one – live | County Championship
Key events
Shoaib Bashir’s four for 69 is his best return in county cricket. And now he takes the new ball with Muhammad Abbas. Two new feathers for his Derbyshire cap.
This might be the moment to remind CCLive! readers that if a Championship team’s pitch is rated below average, poor or unfit, the home side will get zero points from the fixture, regardless of the match result.
Playing condition 16.2.6 reads. “In the event of a match being abandoned due to a pitch that has been rated unfit, or if the pitch is rated poor or below average, in accordance with the ECB’s pitch regulations, the home team shall be awarded zero points and any first innings points already achieved shall be rescinded,”
“The home team shall be credited with a loss and the away team a draw for tiebreaker purposes.”
A fourth wicket for Shoaib Bashir
A beauty from Bashir, as Bailey is bowled for one, the ball creeping past excellent defence and into his stumps. Lancs 314-8. Bashir has four.
Five wickets for George Hill
As Yorkshire roll out Hampshire for 251. JAck Lehmann the top scorer with 76 and a handy 17 at the close from Eddy Jack. Lyth and Bean settle at the crease.
And a couple more wickets at OT as Derbyshire fight back. Matty Hurst gives a dolly to Montgomery for 32 and Bashir bowls a half-advancing Tom Hartley for 17. Hartley turns his bat upside down and bangs the handle on the grass in disappointment. Lancs 306-7, Bashir 3-66.
James Price, Lancashire’s Easter bunny, head of marketing and communications has just appeared in the press box with a milky bar Easter Egg for everyone. Just don’t mention the SGMs…
Rain at Bristol – McKinney 182 not out
Rain has never been more welcome at Bristol, as the players are forced in with the score 348-2 after 67.2 overs. McKinney 182 not out.
A cracking caught and bowled by Shoaib Bashir, sliding onto his tummy rhythm and slurping it up. Michael Jones wasn’t too happy, but it looked legit to me. Lancs 283-5, Marcus Harris out for 125 just before tea.
And with the sun out, Marcus Harris close to his hundred and Shoaib Bashir bowling well at OT, time for me to write up for early Friday first edition. Do keep chatting BTL.
And Brett D’Oliveira (67 not out) is standing tall as the rest of the Worcestershire batting crumbles around him. Worcs 167-8 against new improved Middlesex. Two wickets to Naavya Sharma and Ryan Higgins. Worcs 171-8.
A hundred for Ricardo Vasconcelos!
And he’s just gone, a wicket for Jas Singh, after 127 from 170 balls. Kent breathe a sigh of relief. Northants 229-1.
A century for Alex Lees
Durham continue their unrelenting pummelling of Glos – as Alex Lees joins the three figures club. McKinney is still flying along – 141 from 140 balls. Durham 261-0.
Compared to what’s happening elsewhere, Hampshire are plodding along at Headingley. Ben Maynes and Jake Lehmann have put on an unbeaten 50 for the fifth wickets. Two wickets for George Hill. Hants 161-4.
A wicket for Bashir!
But no century for Josh Bohannon, who chops Bashir onto his stumps for 73, done by a ball that spins and bounces. Bashir, half a (luxuriant) head taller than most of the players on the field, does a little jig of happiness. A wicket in his second over. Lancs 157-3.
Apologies to all – McCullum is not at Hove. Just his lookalike. But Rob Key is. And we pause at OT while Rocky Flintoff runs out with the modern equivalent of brown paper and string to help Marcus Harris repair his bat.
Runs for Pope and Smith
Simon Burnton
Very good since lunch, though Smith (76) was nearly caught at gully off a flashing drive, for which he demonstratively chastised himself. They’ve both hit lovely cover drives. A sharp single ended with Patel’s throw hitting Pope (61) and running away to the boundary for five runs, which is always fun. Leicestershire looking a little forlorn. Surrey 172-2.
Warwickshire’s mediocre morning continues into the afternoon where they have just lost Beau Webster for 48. A second wicket for Ollie Robinson at Hove. Warwicks 116-5.
Timm Van der Gugten, enjoying his trip to Trent Bridge, has just picked up his fourth Notts wicket, Patterson-White bowled for one. Fergus O’Neill has bashed five fours to get the scoreboard moving, Jack Haynes 37 not out. Glamorgan frisky after that morale-boosting draw against Yorkshire. Notts 140-6.
At Chelmsford, Matt Critchley, Rothesay CC player of round one for his 173 and five for nine, has returned to earth with a bump. Out for a three-ball duck to Somerset secret weapon Tom Lammonby, who also dismissed Dean Elgar for 41. Essex 112 for five.
Lancashire are making hay the afternoon, Harris has fifty too, getting there with a drive past Bohanon’s feet to the deep mid-on boundary. Lancs 127-2.
Rob Key watching at Hove
Thanks to Mike Bennett and his steward spy.
“A decent effort from both Ollie and young Henry this morning but Fynn H-P probably still takes my pick for the bowling award that session.
“Robinson looks much fitter and to have regained a bit of the gas that was lacking last season, I think he was unlucky not to have picked at least one more wicket – a couple of edges falling short or squeezing through the cordon.
“Crocombe on as first change again, a couple of very tight overs from both ends with decent speed, although neither Yates nor Webster seemed particularly troubled in negotiating it.
“A steward told me that both *Baz and Rob Key are in attendance today, so you’d think this is Robinson’s best chance to get himself more firmly “into the conversation” before his last chance passes.
“The sun is breaking through a bit and both batters are looking settled but I’d still say advantage Sussex at this point.”
*this turned out to be just Rob Key, with Baz somewhere as yet unknown
A hundred for Ben McKinney!
McKinney, who was much mentioned last season but didn’t make the Ashes tour in the end, smacks two sixes and 18 fours in a brutal century against Gloucestershire. Durham 171-0.
Fifty for Josh Bohannon, in an early-season fruitful patch. A lunchtime stroll around OT revealed a little girl in fairy dress batting against her mum, and a boy in a Lancs shirt smacking his dad around the concourse. Lancashire 102-2.
Lunchtime scores
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 80-4 v Somerset
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 101-5 v Glamorgan
The Oval: Surrey 110-2 v Leicestershire
Hove: Sussex v Warwickshire 69-3
Headingley: Yorkshire v Hampshire 82-2
DIVISION TWO
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Durham 143-0
Canterbury: Kent v Northamptonshire 124-0
Old Trafford: Lancashire 88-2 v Derbyshire
Lord’s: Middlesex v Worcestershire 84-5
Time for one not very eventful over from Shoaib Bashir before they trundle in for lunch at OT. Lunch scores around the grounds to follow.
Fifty for Ricardo Vasconcelos
Kent’s bowlers also proving tasty fare – and Northants tucking in. Vasconcelos 73 not out from 94 balls.
Fifty for Ben McKinney
Big Ben McKinney doing exactly what the selectors are asking with 82 off 84 balls – though runs against Gloucestershire are some of the easiest. Apologies Glos supporters, I feel cruel typing that. Durham 141-0.
A wave to Will Unwin, who is sometimes watching from the stands at OT with his daughter, but is stuck behind a laptop today.
“I am intrigued by the lineup. After missing last season, for Lancashire at least, I am surprised Rocky Flintoff is not getting a chance. I can’t imagine Paul Coughlin is the long term answer either. Flintoff needs to develop and will not do it watching from the stands.
“I appreciate without Jennings, a Plan B is required but Singh has rarely convinced with the bat. Marcus Harris is an opener by trade and his experience could be significant there, taking the pressure off Singh, who could be allowed to move down the order.”
I should have said that Jennings is out with a calf injury – though Lancs hope he’ll be back for the next round.
I’d like to see Harris opening too but he bats five for Victoria, coming in after Leicestershire’s Peter Handscomb. This is his first game since the cracking Sheffield Shield final which Victoria lost by 56 runs to South Australia.
Lancashire SGMs
Reports from Lancashire’s two Special General Meetings at The Point here at OT last night are suitably chaotic. The first SGM, the one organised by the club, was adjourned before any of the seven resolutions were passed as there wasn’t a legal advisor in the room.
The second meeting, held by the “dissidents,”wanted to raise the number of former employees who could sit on the Board from two to four. It was won by 672-401 votes, but that wasn’t a big enough percentage to pass.
Josh Bohannon is dropped in the slips on 28. Chappell prowls back to his mark near the Old Trafford pavilion where hundreds of people are gathered in zipped-up fleece excitement. A good turn-out all the way round the stands for the first home game of the season.
At The Oval, Surrey are 52-2 against Leicestershire, both openers gone.One of those wicket-takers was Josh Hull who sent Sibley on his way for four. Gary Naylor is keeping an eye on things.
“Josh Hull is back at The Oval bowling from the same end as he did in his one Test. There’s no speedgun here (as far as I can see), but he looks very sharp, pushing 90mph I suspect, delivering a heavy ball. At 21, he has lost a bit of that teenage gawkiness, though he’s a big unit and will need to manage his body carefully.”
He’s huge isn’t he? I watched him go through his paces at Grace Road. Like an oak tree in a forest of saplings.
Glamorgan’s van der Gugten and Ryan Hadley have reduced Nottinghamshire to 50 for three, though not before Ben Duckett, who turned down his IPL gig for the CC, had knocked out 25 at about a run a ball. Joe Clarke is not out for a nippy 18 from 20 balls.
Round the grounds Northamptonshire’s Ricardo Vasconcelos and Luke Procter are having fun against Kent (58-0); Durham’s Ben McKinney and Alex Lees similar japes against Gloucestershire (59-0) but elsewhere the bowlers are taking early-season prizes.
The first email of the day drops into the CCLive postbag. Hello Mike Bennett!
“Good morning from Hove, where the glorious weather of the last few days has given way to slightly overcast conditions, although the sun is doing it’s best to break through.
“Living in Scotland means I very rarely get the chance to watch the CC in person, so despite being a Yorkie, staying just around the corner from the County Ground this week meant this was too good an opportunity to pass up.
“Fynn Hudson-Prentice opening the bowling with Robinson has bowled a couple of very sharp overs and Robinson has just whistled one past Alex Davies’ nose, so it looks like we’re shaping up for a decent first session.
“Thanks for the ever-great work with the live blog, it’s a lifeline for those of us stranded in cricket wildernesses! (Although a dedicated reader, this is the first time I’ve written in).”
It’s lovely to hear from you Mike and I’m glad the Guardian can help keep you connected. I’d be interested in what you think about Robinson and Henry Crocombe, both who are on the ECB scouts’ radar. And I see Warwicks have lost two early wickets – one each to Robinson and Hudson-Prentice. Sussex 12-2.
And an early wicket for Abbas, as ever liquid gold. Singh with an elaborate prod, edging to Guest. Harris strolls out to resume his usual relaying of the foundations role. Lancashire 13 for two.
An early wicket here at OT, though we were too distracted in the press box by a frozen telly to notice. Luke Wells well caught, diving to his left at third slip off Ben Aitchison, for four. It brings in Josh Bohannon’s for his 100th first-class match.
Haseeb Hameed will have the rest of the day to admire the ball by Timm van der Gugten that, in bright sunshine, sent him on his way first ball. HH cocked his leg to dink the ball into the leg side but instead lost his leg stump.
Out come the Derbyshire players, hands firmly stuck around handwarmers, deep in pockets. Lancs have three changes from the side that drew with Worcestershire – adding Mitch Stanley, Marcus Harris and Paul Coughlin. Muhammad Abbas has the new ball from the Statham End.
Domestic Journalism Awards
Congratulations to all the winners of the ECB’s Domestic Journalism awards – jobs well done.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins Young Journalist of the Year: Cameron Ponsonby
Christopher Martin-Jenkins Broadcaster of the Year: Aaron Viles
Outstanding Online Coverage: BBC Sport Online
Highly Commended: The Cricketer Online
Regional Newspaper of the Year: Yorkshire Post
Highly Commended: Liverpool Echo
Podcast of the Year: The Final Word
Highly Commended: Wisden Cricket Weekly, 150 Not Out: Somerset County Cricket Club
Video Content Creator of the Year: Cricket District
Photo of the Year: David Griffin
Highly Commended: Nathan Stirk
I love the elongated figures in the winning photo Groundstaff from above by David Griffin, who is here at Old Trafford today to cover Derbyshire. You can find it here if you scroll down the page.
Ajaz Patel makes his debut for Leicestershire today. The Foxes will have to crank up their match skills from their defeat by Sussex in the last round, to hold off Surrey at The Oval.
To Old Trafford, where the outfield is busy with slip catching practise and bowling run ins. Derbyshire have won the toss and have sent Lancashire in to have a bat.
Division Two table
Middlesex 22
Derbyshire 16
Lancashire 14
Durham 13
Northamptonshire 12
Kent 11
Worcestershire 11
Gloucestershire -1
Division one table
Essex 22
Warwickshire 16
Nottinghamshire 13
Somerset 13
Glamorgan 12
Surrey 11
Sussex 10
Yorkshire 10
Leicestershire 3
Hampshire 2
Fixtures
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex v Somerset
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Glamorgan
The Oval: Surrey v Leicestershire
Hove: Sussex v Warwickshire
Headingley: Yorkshire v Hampshire
DIVISION TWO
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Durham
Canterbury: Kent v Northamptonshire
Old Trafford: Lancashire v Derbyshire
Lord’s: Middlesex v Worcestershire
Preamble
Good morning! Welcome to round two of this Championship summer – all cherry blossom and leftover hot cross buns . We have another full set of matches and can start to divine whether last week’s wins for Sussex, Essex and Middlesex were anything more than early season luck. Play starts around the grounds at 11am, do join us.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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